Evaluating the layout of proposed new vehicle interiors has heretofore been accomplished by forming full-scale models of the interiors out of wood, plastic, foam, or some other easily configurable material to permit, e.g., evaluation of the ergonomic aspects of the proposed new interiors, prior to building operational prototypes of the proposed designs. Specifically, proposed vehicle interior designs are simulated, i.e., "mocked up", and the response of test subjects who perform various simulated tasks in the mock-up are recorded and evaluated to assess, among other things, the ergonomic features of the simulated designs.
It will readily be appreciated that even minor changes in a proposed design may require significant and time-consuming modifications to a mock-up of a previous version of the design. Indeed, each new proposed design may require its own mock-up, thereby increasing the time, cost, and expense of evaluating many competing designs and thus undesirably limiting the number of proposed designs that can be evaluated.
Accordingly, as the present invention recognizes it is desirable to use modern computer technology to simulate, in virtual reality, proposed vehicle designs and thus provide a means for evaluating designs and making as many modifications to proposed designs as may be desired, without requiring time-consuming and expensive forming of a plethora of mock-ups. The system of the present invention, like many virtual reality systems, presents an image of a space (in this case, the vehicle) to a user, as the actual space would be viewed by a user located in a position analogous to the position of the "view" of the virtual space that is presented.
As further recognized by the present invention, it is desirable to evaluate the ergonomic design of a proposed vehicle with respect to accessibility of vehicle controls. For example, it might be desirable to evaluate the ease with which a person in the driver's seat of the vehicle can reach and push a knob on a radio. Or, it might be necessary to evaluate the ergonomic aspects of a person in the driver's seat grasping a shift knob of a vehicle or the steering wheel of the vehicle.
It will be appreciated that to permit such evaluations, the actual position of the person's hand accurately must be transformed to the virtual space and then projected to provide the same visual feedback to the person that the person would have were he sitting in an actual vehicle. Accurate projection is required to ensure that, for example, the image of a virtual index finger is not portrayed as extending even slightly into the surface of a virtual pushbutton when the user attempts to push the button. Such relatively inaccurate portrayal to the user of his virtual finger reduces the effectiveness of the simulation and, hence, the evaluation of the proposed design.
One way to ensure accurate projection of, e.g., the fingers of a person's hand in a virtual space is to dispose position sensors on the tip of each finger which transmit position signals to a receiver. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,158, which is directed to retrieving information stored in a database, not to virtual reality vehicle simulation. Unfortunately, the system disclosed in the '158 patent requires the user to wear a comparatively complex glove that is fitted with a number of position sensors. To comfortably accommodate differently-sized hands, which must be done to accommodate the many test subjects commonly required in new design evaluation, systems like the '158 invention inherently require the use of a plurality of differently-sized gloves.
Accordingly, as recognized by the present invention, it would be advantageous to provide a virtual reality system which accurately projects an image of a virtual hand, without requiring a complex system of sensors, and which is usable by differently-sized users without undue modification.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a virtual reality simulation system which accurately projects an image of a person's hand as it would appear in virtual space. Another object of the present invention is to provide a virtual reality simulation system which accurately projects a virtual image of a person's hand, and which is of relatively simple construction. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a virtual reality simulation system which accurately projects a virtual image of a person's hand, and which is usable by differently-sized users without undue modification. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a virtual reality simulation system which accurately projects a virtual image of a person's hand which is easy to use and cost-effective.